Integer Operations
📋 What it is
Adding and subtracting negatives follows sign rules; subtracting is adding the opposite.
🗣️ Coach says
Working with negatives has a few reliable rules. Subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive: 5 − (−3) = 5 + 3 = 8. "Two minuses make a plus" is the phrase — but understand WHY: undoing a debt gives you more.
🧠 Memory hook
Subtracting a negative = ADDING. 5 − (−3) = 5 + 3. Two minuses next to each other → a plus.
😂 Giggle
Why do prime numbers make terrible friends?
They refuse to be divided!
😲 Whoa!
Bank statements use integer operations every day: a deposit is positive, a withdrawal negative, and "removing a mistaken charge" is subtracting a negative.
✅ Quick check: What is 5 − (−3)?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
8 — subtracting a negative is adding: 5 + 3 = 8.
Removing a negative is the same as adding the positive amount.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Model 5 − (−3): if someone cancels a $3 debt you owe, you're $3 better off — that's +3.